In South Dakota today, the Senate Committee for Health and Human Services failed to forward a bill, HB 1057 (“The Vulnerable Child Protection Act”) which would protect minors from being surgically mutilated or chemically sterilized as part of “gender transition” therapy.

Of the panel of seven Senators, Helene Duhamel (R-Rapid City), Red Dawn Foster (D-Pine Ridge), Art Rusch (R-Vermillion), Wayne Steinhauer (R-Hartford) and Deb Soholt (R-Sioux Falls) voted against the bill. Phil Jensen (R-Rapid City) and Lance Russell (R-Hot Springs) voted in favor of passing it on to the full Senate for a vote.

The five Senators who voted against this common-sense legislation should be ashamed for failing to act to protect children from the life-changing alterations that could come as a result of their being persuaded by the aggressive LGBT agenda to doubt that they were “born in the right body.” Research has shown children and adolescents experiencing gender dysphoria will often “grow out of” it given time and loving care. Intervening medically with life-altering procedures is dangerous and irresponsible. Even puberty blockers can be a life-changing intervention, since there is a normal time at which the body undergoes puberty, and delaying this until later can have lasting physiognomic and psychological impact.

iFamNews has launched a new petition to the Senate leadership in South Dakota urging them to act in spite of the committee and to bring this vote to the floor. The people of South Dakota deserve to know where their elected officials stand on this critically important issue.

Brian S. Brown is founder and publisher of International Family News. He is also president of the International Organization for the Family (IOF). Brian also serves as President of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) after having co-founded the organization in 2007. Brian has been quoted regularly in the The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Associated Press, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, and almost every other major newspaper in the country. He has also regularly appeared on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News Channel, C-SPAN and MSNBC. An Oxford University-educated and articulate advocate for marriage, he is a sought-after speaker who has addressed hundreds of gatherings throughout the country, and internationally. Brian is a C. Phil. at UCLA in American History, earned his B.A./M.A. in Modern History at Oxford University, and received his B.A. in History from Whittier College. He and his wife Susan have nine young children.